things that make me go hmmm

I'm trying to line my ducks up in a row for the day, and every time I hit "print", I get one line of text on a page, followed by the first page of full text.  Would it really be so hard for Google, or the printer company to have a "fit to page" button for these times when it truly wouldn't hurt to shrink things a little bit?

Meat for supper in the crockpot, and there may actually be time to knock out a dessert before gym class...brownies!  Yes!...um... no...they take 35 minutes and I only have 30....plan B

a Quilt show, 40 vendors from all over NC (and one or two from SC and VA), which I'm sure will have a gazillion cool things to look at and consider. And I have, um, well, I won't tell you how many quilt projects I currently have going.  Wouldn't it make more sense to stay home and use today to actually QUILT instead of tantalizing the senses by browsing?

And snow...I've lost count of how many "snowfalls" we've had this winter. (3-4...does it count if there's only two flurries? If so, then 5.  Does it have to stick longer than 2.5 hours?  Hmmm....would that be one or two?)  and now, one of our busy weekends for the month...it's supposed to SNOW!  Crazy.

And, last but not least, recently I was telling Bobby about this kid in my high school who in response to another student hauling his Bible and a soul-winning book around to every class (but seldom having his textbook or homework!), began carrying Satan's Bible.  Bobby looked at me like I was crazy and asked what the book was actually called, and I told him: "The Satanic Verses".  It amazed me the number of students who were terrified of him after he did that.  Bobby started laughing.  Evidently "The Satanic Verses", which was released while I was in high school, is actually a book about the Koran.  The author had to go into hiding because of the number of death threats he received from Muslims.  So all this time this boy was laughing at people running from him and calling him a "devil worshipper" when in reality he was simply reading a new bestseller about the evils of the Islamic religion.  Education.  There's nothing like it.

And I'm about 1/8 into "In the Land of Believers" (which I got for Christmas).  Written by an atheist of Jewish descent, the girl pretends to become a Christian at Thomas Roads Baptist Church (Falwell's church) and it's her account of what evangelicals are truly like. So far she's been nice in the way she has phrased things, honest, and has truly done her homework on what we "fundies" believe.  Once I finish I'll give a review.  Her deception bothers me to no end, but so far she's not being hateful in her writing style.

And that's my crazy list of random musings for this Friday.

in loving memory

Monday night, close to midnight, my former teacher and mentor, Bert Tippett, heard the words "Well done my good and faithful and servant."  And what a good and faithful servant he was!

I snagged the picture above from his Facebook photo page, and I chose this one because it's how I most remember Mr. Tippett and Mrs. Diane : smiling, vibrant.  But even had I chosen the pic on his profile, even in a hospital gown and swollen, he's STILL smiling.

I can't even begin to tell the tremendous impact this man had on my life, and judging from comments left on Facebook pages from Free Will Baptist Bible College alumni, I am not alone. He was in charge of publications for the school. He could have easily holed up in his office, only coming out for the required chapel. But he didn't. He took on the students' Wednesday night Bible study, taught classes on publications, counseled students, and since we were still in dinosaur days with only the whisperings of this thing called e-mail and the world-wide-web, he weekly published a student newsletter or announcement sheet.

The year I was to be editor of the college yearbook, the head of the English department resigned due to poor health. Mr. Tippett reluctantly agreed to return to the post of Yearbook Advisor, while training another faculty member for the job as well.  I couldn't have had had a better mentor. And it was through this experience that I witnessed first hand the loving relationship the Tippetts had. I don't remember exactly where Mrs. Diane's office was, but she could slip in during a meeting to drop something of without interrupting and could handle business for him while there if needed. He would hold the doors open for her going in and out of buildings, and while clearing trays from their table in the cafeteria (where I worked), their table was always full of lively conversation.

I was one of three students in his Editing Publications class my freshman year, so instead of using an academic classroom we huddled around his massive wood desk. My senior year he designed my first newsletter telling people about my intent of going to China.  And had I not already committed to two years of teaching English after graduation with ELIC, I would have gladly accepted the job offer of becoming his assistant. During my last semester when I felt as if the world was closing in on me with things from home and from things within the denomination, Mr. Tippett challenged me from the Word, edified my weary heart, and prayed with me. He always found the good in people, and knew how to lovingly criticize. He liked to joke that another artistic student and I were his nemesis. He'd then cock his head and say, "Or the two of you my arch-nemesis?" I never could figure out how to respond (even after he told me what a nemeses was!).

He wasn't perfect. Some of my favorite Bible studies he taught was where he opened up his heart and shared what God was teaching him.

And the quote above his office door (which I never noticed until serving as editor) I always laughed about and jokingly told him he put it up because of me: Procrastination on your part does not require emergency status on mine. 

My dream of working under him and learning from his vast knowledge will never be fulfilled. But I have come to realize the greatness of his wisdom, his tenacity, his patience, his love for family and his Lord, and his joy. May I emulate him, and so many others, who when faced with a job they felt unprepared for, admitted their limitations, looked upward, learned from others, then rolled up their sleeves, and simply worked.

Mr. Tippett, you played a tremendous role in not just my educational development, but in my spiritual and personal life as well. And there's not a job in graphic design I've done today that hasn't drawn on the principles you taught me in Editing Publications.  Thanks for the memories.

a modern convenience that's not convenient

After 11.333 years of observing life from a different vantage point, I've learned that most modern conveniences are really not that convenient.  Take parking decks for example.

They're great things for cities or hospitals or other places that see a large traffic volume but have limited land spaces for parking.  But evidently they're expensive to build, and companies hope to recoup some of the costs through parking fees.  There's nothing wrong with that. It makes good business sense.  But the modern method of using machinery to speed things up creates a problem for disabled drivers.

You drive up, roll down your window, and either pull a tab of paper or else press a button to get a tab.  Seems simple enough. But it's not if your fingers don't work. Every time we go somewhere that has one of these things, it requires me getting out of the passenger side, crossing over in front of the van (and making sure your spouse is not mad at you before you do :)), grabbing the ticket while the person in the exit booth is staring at you trying to figure out what on earth is happening, crawling back in the car, and trying not to notice the line that has formed behind you while this few second ordeal takes place. Exiting is somewhat easier as you don't have to grab things, though trying to handle paper and money while maintaining balance in the seat or wheelchair is still a chore.

And the reality is, as long as there is a passenger riding with a disabled driver, it is not a big deal. Yet this is one of those silly things that stress me out. How stupid is that?  It's not that hard to do; I understand the reasoning behind the process, and yet it always seems to frustrate me. Perhaps I worry too much about what the ticket person is thinking about us, or the agitated people behind us.  They could easily employ a person to hand the tickets out upon entry and lift the gate as they do at exit. Yes, it would take more time and slow things down and require hiring another person, but it would make the process a little more humane and disability friendly, not to mention assisting a little with the unemployment rate.

Not that anyone ever asks me for my opinion. :)

emotional

My Dad used to get exasperated with us girls, proclaiming us "emotional".  I thought that was a bunch of nonsense. Today, I have to wonder if he might be right (gasp!).

Someone gave me a "project" (a job) a few months ago.  Well, rather, they gave it to my husband to give to me. It wasn't the best of timing. I briefly talked with the person and told them it would be a while before I could get to it. They were fine with it. I have resolved to finish the roughs for this project by today so I can tackle a new job.  It's really simple. Take the sketches they made, apply the design principles, give them the roughs, make the necessary adjustments. That's all it takes. How hard can that be?

But I find it often works more like this: He's not going to like this design. I just know he's not.  He's not going to want anything creative or cool but something old school because that's just how old men are. He says he wants a sketch, more of an illustration, but if I do that then that really ups the time factor and if he wants changes it means REDOING the ENTIRE thing instead of just using a photo or drawing on the computer where I can salvage bits and pieces and cut and paste and modify.  I could sketch it on the computer, but I'm not sure I'll do a good job at that.  It's been a very long time since I did that in class and I never used that skill set on my job and it might take me a while to brush up on those exercises. And what if I do all this work and he doesn't like anything I do at all?  Maybe I should just do some pencil sketches and find out exactly what he wants, how he wants to use this logo, and then I'll know what file formats to use. And...

The reality is, I know this client wants a logo, and wants a header for his company's website. Two different things, but two things that work together.  Both are doable.  So WHY do I allow myself to work my mind up into this crazy tizzy traffic jam of thoughts?  Just do the job!!!

If I were a teenager and this was my homework and I shared these thoughts with my Dad, he would be clinching his jaw, rolling his eyes upward as if asking for divine intervention, then muttering through clenched teeth, "WHY are you making a simple problem so difficult?" before leaving the kitchen table. Nothing like studying history or geometry with my Dad to bring out our differences. And all those years he thought I wasn't listening. :)

So here's to you, Dad.  A simple job, a simple task, and it'll be done by tomorrow. :)

On your mark, get ready, get set, RUN!!!

yes, I know.  That's supposed to say "Go."  But we go all the time. This week, we are running.
I have some work-work to do (the kind you get paid for) in addition to some long overdue laundry. I'm excited about it (the work, not the laundry), and am curious to see how long it will take to corral my scatterbrained thoughts.
I would LOVE to have all my work finished by Thursday night so I can head to Sanford Friday morning. The Quilting and Fiber Art Marketplace  is taking place this Friday and Saturday. http://quiltersgallery.net/the-quilting-and-fiber-art-marketplace-directions-vendors-from-2010-and-hotel-info/  If you scroll down past the hotel information, it lists the 40 vendors who will be there and what their specialties are.  I can't go Saturday since we have a baby shower (Bobby's about to be a great-uncle for the fifth time...and two more coming before the year is out!), so I would really like to make it there and browse half the day away on Friday. And if you flip through the pages, there's even a coupon making the admission price only $4. :) I love coupons!
I hope everyone else had an easier time getting up and out the door this morning! After a week and a half of vacation/holiday time, we (I) had gotten quite spoiled! But I only had someone out the door five minutes late this morning, so I guess I did okay.  Upward and onward! :)

a fun afternoon

Calamity Jane's General Store in Wilson's Mills, NC (with a Clayton address) started something new today.....a poultry auction!  Since today was the first time for it to be held, we weren't expecting them to have a whole lot of fowl things, but they did! We were going to go and observe today, but after being there about twenty minutes I registered for a bidding number. We came home with two geese, (one female, a light brown like our grey ones; and one white, sex unknown that resembles the Chinese goose). They had a roman Toulouse (what we call the mohawk geese), but it had a bad leg.  With all the wildlife problems we encounter, I was afraid we would be feeding it to the slaughter. I seriously considered bidding on a box of 16 black austrolop biddies, but refrained. It was the first animal auction I've ever been to, and it was quite fun! The only disadvantage to buying birds at auction is that you can't ask the owners questions (not that you always get honest answers from Craigslist owners) and you can't check the bird out before hand. But on the other hand, the prices were much lower than CraigsList. I think this was the lowest amount we've ever paid for geese, and so far they seem to be adjusting okay. They've made it to the pond, are "swimming" with our geese. None have attacked the other yet, but ours are swimming at a fairly past pace trying to get away from them. We guess they'll stop once they're tired. After the slaughters of 2010, this year just might be a good animal year for us! :)

Happy New Year!

2011. wow.
I remember laughing in high school about living in a decade that started with 20 and how far away that would be, and now we're already into the second decade of this millennium.
Last year I didn't set monthly goals or challenges, as I had several lengthy projects. While I read more this past year and did a much better job of staying caught up on the laundry and housework, I also had several projects that I never accomplished. So this year I hope to break them down into smaller, more realistic goals in hopes of actually getting a few extra things done.
What does 2011 hold? Doctor appointments, weddings, births, and a plethora of activities. :) That much is already guaranteed. Beyond that, it's probably safe to say that my spirit is gasping, my health is weird, and my brain is (as always) a constant whirlwind of ideas. At this time next year, I will still not weigh my "ideal" weight according to the weight charts (but will hopefully be 20 pounds lighter!), I will not be as disciplined as my husband, and I will still be somewhat disorganized. And as I get older, I become more and more okay with such things, with accepting some things as simply the way God made me and becoming more comfortable with who I am and willing to work on modifying certain characteristics even though I recognize I will never totally change in those areas.
So 2011, I welcome your blank pages!